Disassembling Pro furl system

[nudibranch]

I'm about to truck my boat to the east coast and need to disassemble the furler. It was installed by the PO and I have no experiance with how to dismantle one or install one. Anything I should be aware of? It looks pretty straight forward. Is it a two man job or do I need three? Thanks!

[sv_bruadair]

I don't have any experience with Profurl to answer your question but maybe you could download the manual from Profurl's web site. I downloaded it just in the last week as I was researching buying a new furling unit. The installation manual should give you an idea of what to expect. Just a suggestion,

[mike]

You should have no problems dismantling a Profurl ( I use to be one of the UK's main distributors), make sure you have a metric set of allen quays otherwise you may damage the heads of the allen screws at each section joint. If you undo the 4 screws that hold the joints in place you should be able to slide the extrusions apart, you then have the bearing carrier which holds the 2 halves of the bearings (black plastic). To remove these give them a 90deg turn in the carrier so the retaining lugs asre in line with the lontitudinal slot in the carrier, you can then slide one half of the bearing out of the aluminium extrusion which will then let you remoce the extrsuion & the other half of the bearing from the wire.

The drum is held onto the lower bearing carrier by 2 screws that have shoulders machined onto them, unscrew these (slotted screw heads) & the drum will lift or knock off upwards. There are 2 allen screws in the lower unit which hold the bottom bearing in place. Once the lower bearing has been removed the lower wire terminal can be passed through the unit.

A tip when re-assembling; make sure all joint screws are re-assembled with a Loktite than can be undone again DON'T over tighten as you can expand the diameter of the luff spars at each joint which will prevent the halyard slider from passing over the joints.

If you ever get a bearing problem - yes the bearings are just plain steel! You can easily replace them together with the seals as they are a standard industrial bearing & seal available from a bearing/transmission shop at reasonable prices compared with what you will pay at your local boatyard. The bearings/seals for both the lower unit & the halyard swivel are identical. if you do change them I would recommend going for replacing the plain steel circlips with stainless as there is little difference in price. so far in the UK I've been unable to find a manufacturer who can supply the bearings in stainless, however, the standard steel ones give around 10 years, its usually the double lip seals that fail from UV attack which then let water into the bearing. I usually repack the unit with a Molibdenum grease.

Mike

[Great_Aardvark]

Instead of disassembling it why not just disconnect from the bottom and secure it to the mast for shipping. This wouyld make it easier to relaunch also.

Tony

[mimoza]

@Mike,
Thanks for the rebuild review. I think my lowers are in need. They are feeling a little stiff in the joints, as am I.

[nudibranch]

Thanks to everyone for all of the info! If I can leave the whole assembly together and lash it to the mast I will, but some carriers will not allow any rigging left on the mast.

[mike]

If you tie the Profurl to your mast make sure if there is any luff extrusion with the drum extending beyond the mast that it is well supported as I've seen sections fracture at the last point of it being fastened to the mast as a result of flexing on a long road journey.

Mike

[mike]

I possibly didn't explain myself properly regarding the removal of the drum assembly. The lower bearing is inside the bottom of the lower extrusion & not in the drum swivel unit. If you remove the drum from the lower unit you should find a couple of allen screws that hold the unit onto the luff spar.

The top bearing is held in place with a `C' type washer that is slid into a groove in the bearing holder, this in turn is held in place by a vertical allen screw into one of the bolt rope tracks, this `C' washer also stops the halyard slider (traveller) from coming off the top of the extrusion.

When using a Profurl its essential that the halyard slider goes right to the top of the extrusion so that the stainless bar that the halyard attaches to is able to locate onto the halyard wrap stops in the anti-wrap cap or it will not work correctly. If your sail is short in the luff then you need to fit an extension wire 'pennant' between the head of the sail & the halyard traveller to let it sit in the correct place - you can put the strop at the tack of the sail to do the same but this will then mean your sheeting position is further aft.

Mike

[pelleas]

[nudibranch]

I didn't have any problems taking mine apart, except for the fact of discovering that one of the parts doesn't float. As we were sliding the drum assembly from the extrusion, the plastic sleeves fell out of the extrusion and one landed in the water. After 3 or 4 attempts to get the corrcet plastic sleeve from Profurl, I finally got the correct one. I never could match my system up to any diagram they had on their website and finally just mailed them the other half that didn't go for a swim. After spending so much money buying the wrong sleeves and with all the postal charges they just gave me the correct ones for free! Much thanks to Profurl for the personal attention and service.
Good luck with your's Jerry, hope everything works out for the best.

[pelleas]

Yes, I noticed that some the parts do not float. After numerous attempts at trying to get the extrusions apart, I decided it was an impossibility. I am going to take a hack saw to the extrusions, being careful to not destroy the forestay and dump the remains offshore in about 500 feet of water.

I am looking into buying a new Profurl C240 which costs around $2250 at Marine Warehouse in Miami and having it shipped via cargo ship to Panama. Since I will be assembling it myself I would rather go with a design that is somewhat closer to what I have now. After reviewing the Profurl installation manual on line and comparing it with Harken and Schaefer, I concluded that the Profurl was the most straight forward and even less expensive.

I would, however, like to have the opinions of others who have either disassembled a Profurl that was old and any thoughts regarding how you chose a replacement roller reefing system and what went into your decision.

After I construct a new bow sprit and sampson posts and install a new Profurl and buy a new jib, I might be able to go sailing again.

Jerry Poore
S/V Pelleas
Bocas del Toro, Panama